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30th
May 05 |
Shakara
By Robbie
Morrison & Henry Flint
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this book from Amazon.co.uk
What to Expect:
As war rages in the Galaxy, a one man army is targetting the purveyors of
Terror...
Review by Gavin
Hanly
Every once in a
while, a 2000AD series comes along that just makes you stop, and stare in awe.
The last to do this was, in my opinion, Leviathan, but when Shakara made its debut
back in Prog 2002 it too was met with the thundering fan acclaim that greets an
instant classic.
Shakara is, in
many ways, the comic version of a simple revenge flick. Shakara is out to right
the wrongs and destroy all the bad guys in the process. While that simplistic
idea may not seem like much at first glance, it's a premise that has brought us
more than a few classic films, and there's no reason why it shouldn't convert
well to comics.
Given that most
revenge flicks seem to have a certain amount of style going for them, it's no
surprise that the most impressive feature about Shakara is the art. Henry Flint
had been developing well as one of 2000AD's most promising artists with artwork
for Nemesis and the ABC Warriors being particularly noteworthy. But, arguably,
it was his work in Shakara that saw him begin to stand outside of the crowd. It
was from this point onwards that Flint's had really developed his own style, moving
away from his earlier influences of McMahon and O'Neill. Having said that, Shakara
shows an ingenuity and downright insanity in the artwork that few since O'Neill
have managed to achieve.
First, there is
the excellent use of the spot colour red throughout. There have long been arguments
about the merits of black & white versus colour art in the comic, but the
excellent use of the limited pallet available to Shakara made the strip instantly
stand out from the rest of the strips running in 2000AD at that time. And it's
the fact that the colour is used sp sparingly that makes it so effective, so that
when we get a large splash of red, the impact is more devastating, Shakara's first
appearance and the penultimate page being prime examples of this.
Once freed from
the pre-existing designs of Pat Mills' creations, Shakara gave Flint the opportunity
to let loose like nothing before. Opening with the death of the very last human,
everything becomes increasingly alien as Morrison and Flint create an entire alien
universe, populated by ever more bizarre creatures. From the large eyeball of
Master Investigator Sneer (aptly named considering his less than impressed tone
when dealing with Shakara) to the evil Succubi led by Captain Voltar, every creature
looks totally distinct and irrevocably alien. There's little reliance on overly
human traits to anchor the readers' senses, and as such, it leads to a phenomenally
psychedelic ride.
Of course, even
the best artists are nothing without a good script, and thankfully Flint has Morrison
on hand to provide one. As with Flint, Morrison has taken the opportunity to create
a number of alien worlds and species, spending much time explaining the basic
concepts behind them. It's something that Morrison also does well when writing
Dante, providing of enough background information to make the whole story much
more fascinating. And, as mentioned earlier, the very basic plot needs this. Shakara
adds up to little more than a lot of really nasty bad guys getting their just
comeuppance. but when Morrison sets the scene so well, their demise is all the
more satisfying. Each bad guy's motivation and background is explained well, with
the possible exception of the "Buggerring Mercenaries", whose infestation
of unfortunate grubbers get more airtime.
Then there's the character
of Shakara himself. Immaculately designed by Flint, the spindly creature, part
alien/part bondage-fanatic, cuts an mesmerising path through the chaos. The lithe
appearance helps to emphasise the dynamic movement of the character as he leaps
through each scene, his two red eyes representing the never-blinking nature of
his carnage. Morrison plays the character as little more than a cypher, spilling
only a few hints of his past throughout the story. Thankfully he steers away from
revealing too much, in case the character loses the necessary air of menace and
mystery that is vital for the story to work.
As this is a Rebellion
collection as opposed to a DC one, the production values are far higher. This
is a hardback bound tome, with excellent printing quality throughout that surpasses
its original appearance in the magazine. Of course, this high quality comes with
a price, and £10.99 for 50 pages of strip is a high price indeed (although
it is slighly cheaper at Amazon). Personally, I would have preferred it if Rebellion
had held on a little longer and collected this strip with the sequel that's about
to start in the weekly.
But pricing qualms
aside, this is a wonderful and unmissable strip. Here's hoping that after 3.5
years, Morrison and Flint can keep up this level of quality with Shakara's second
appearance.
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